Agent’s Sales Journal June 2007
Front Page Stories
Honesty and integrity play a unique role in the financial services industry. The products that consu...
Industry experts speak to agents on avoiding the LTCI claims trap, contending with negative media at...
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Short Takes
Annuity surrender periods may be one of the most misunderstood features around. As a result, their positive aspects are nearly always overshadowed by negative perceptions. Too many producers have a tendency to gloss over surrender periods (or worse,...
Some 70 percent of employers say that disability conditions related to depression are increasing in cost and frequency, as indicated in the 2002 Survey of Employers Time-Off and Disability Programs by Mercer Human Resource Consulting. This...
The best time to get a disability insurance income protection policy (or any other form of coverage) is at the earliest possible time when it is both financially feasible and practical, even though there may not be an obvious need at the moment. The...
Recent research highlights an important opportunity for producers to help their clients gain essential income protection for themselves and their families.
Studies sponsored by The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America and its wholly...
In December 2006, President Bush signed into law HR 6408, which expands consumer-driven health plans (CDHPs). Plan highlights include:
Individuals can now contribute up to $2,850 pre-tax to a health savings account (HSA) if they have...
Last years midnight legislative drive to improve the attractiveness of health savings accounts (HSA) increased both media coverage and public awareness over consumer-driven health plans (CDHP). Despite some disbelievers, the plans are...
With insurance costs at a record high, you cant open a newspaper or watch TV without seeing a headline about Americas health care crisis.
This crisis is partly the result of the prevailing misconception...
Health insurance is on the forefront of everyone's mind today: where to get it, how to get it cheaper, which networks work best for whom, etc. There are so many questions and just as many answers. ...
With more than 47 million uninsured Americans and no viable government health care reform on the horizon, health insurance carriers and agencies are starting to use technology to make health insurance more user-friendly and help include value-added...
Three-part survey reveals agents experiences with the growing health insurance, consumer-directed health care, and disability markets
This year, Agent Media, publisher of the Agents Sales Journal, set out to see how health insurance...
Association of Health Insurance Advisors (AHIA)
In September 1990, the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA) National Council and its board of trustees voted to create AHIA to provide an organizational and professional...
Health plans with high deductibles may be costing women more money than men, according to a study conducted by researchers at Harvard Medical School.
Because women tend to need more routine medical examinations than men do, the expenses...
In an effort to defray the rising cost of college athletics, more than 40 colleges are considering taking out life insurance policies on their boosters.
In March, Oklahoma State University announced that it had gathered $280 million for its...
Nearly 40 percent of workers who have seen a reduction in their employer-sponsored retirement benefits have done nothing to make up for the loss, according to the annual Retirement Confidence Survey, sponsored by the Employee Benefit Research...
According to a new study by the Employee Benefits Research Institute, people who save for retirement through IRAs or 401(k)s tend to have similar investment styles. Study data show that retirement account holders make similar asset allocation in...
According to LIMRA International, individual annuity sales in the U.S. reached a record high of $236.2 billion in 2006. This represents an increase of 9 percent over sales figures from 2005.
The fourth quarter of 2006 saw individual annuity...
The reported number of uninsured Americans has dropped by 2 million because of the correction of an overstatement caused by a glitch in the Census Bureaus system.
The glitch caused the bureau to overstate the number of Americans without...
Sales Review
It seems that nearly every agent pulls from their personal bag of tricks during a sales call. Many professionals tend to rely on the same three or four tactics, hoping that their worn-out tools will somehow bring them success. But according to...
Perspectives
Viktor Frankl, author of Mans Search for Meaning, wrote, Significance cannot be pursued, it must ensue. It can only do so as an unintended side effect of ones devotion to a cause greater than oneself or as the byproduct...
Type health insurance into Google, and you get just over 39 million results. That beats about 27 million for life insurance, 13.3 million for annuities, and less than 1.5 million for long term care...
Marketing
Nobody’s infallible, including insurance agents. People tend to form habits, some bad, some good. Sometimes, the bad habits we get caught up in can hinder our selling ability. So here are eight selling mistakes that many agents make. You will...
When I became a financial advisor 10 years ago, I remember asking my clients what they wanted to do when they retired. Nine times out of 10 they would respond, I want to sit on the back porch and watch the grass grow. And they meant it....
Prospecting Corner
Do you want to attract more high-quality clients through referrals? Then check out the following list of eight things you need to do to get there.
1. Treat the entire referral process with importance
How you talk to people about referrals...
Objection of the Month
How would you respond to a prospect who says
"I dont need disability insurance. I have plenty saved up in case something happens to me."
I think that it is admirable that you have saved; however, why would you want...
Other Stories
Northern Hemisphere
Life and Accident Insurance Company
Roseau, Minnesota
If you are north of the Equator, NHLAICO has a policy for you!!
ATTENTION: ALL NORTHERN HEMISPHERE REPRESENTATIVES
RE: HOME OFFICE SUMMER...